Hong Kong is an incredibly exciting city. The stark contrast to Christchurch from the second we stepped off the Airport Express is startling after a thirteen hour flight. The streets bustle with people, smells and noises. For a population of over 7 million, commutes may be a little cosy, as is the footpath and public

A couple of months back, Vanessa, Liese and I escaped to Akaroa for a girl’s weekend away. Despite the gloomy forecast and some weather-dependent plans, we were excited and keen to get away. Historically a French settlement, Akaroa is an enchanting little seaside village that still retains its French flavour. Streets are lined with French

Two weeks ago marked a wee anniversary and hence justified a long weekend kind of adventure. We looked into tramping options but the weather forecast changed our plans and instead we opted for a historic pub tour of Otago. We departed Friday morning in heavy downpour, oblivious to how this could evolve into a state

Weeks prior to our family holiday to Rarotonga, Joris and I found a new TV show on Netflix – Death in Paradise. Its silliness, simplistic structure and low involvement quality fitted our dinner time genre and lack of better options. Set in the fictional Carribean island of Saint Marie, an English inspector handles a different

Late October last year, Christchurch crawled out of its prolonged winter and the weather became warm enough to take us out of hibernation. We eagerly took our chance at the first long weekend that came around and drove to the West Coast for the Inland Pack Track.

The Inland Pack Track is one of many walks in the beautiful Paparoa National Park. It promised multiple river and creek crossings..

Moving into our own house in Christchurch has been an exciting life upgrade for us. In Sydney we lived in a tiny little apartment that received minimal sunlight and dreamed of the days we’d have a backyard and more square metres in the kitchen. Now we’ve got more space than we could have imagined (mostly in the backyard department) and it only made sense that we got some chickens.

A few years ago Lonely Planet named Wellington the coolest capital in the world. Prior to moving to Christchurch, we considered Wellington as an option but Christchurch’s appeal when it came to the family and friends factor overruled Lonely Planet’s sexy endorsement.

Situated on the westernmost part of China, Kashgar is unlike any other Chinese city in language, culture and ethnic makeup. Historically a major Silk Road trading post and the gateway between China and the West, I was intrigued by how little I knew of modern day Kashgar and the Xinjiang region beside the occasional headlines of protest and unrest.

Some weeks ago photos of the natural bridge in Venilale (Ponte Natureza) emerged on Facebook after a few friends went down for the weekend. Since then, a group of us have talked enviously of doing the same, determined to replicate these beautiful photographs.

Three pairs of thongs and four months later, I’m nearing the end of my time in Dili. Burger King seems to sense that our time is up and have cut down their burger options significantly. They say shipments have been blocked so they’ve been stuck without half the ingredients for the past couple of weeks, leaving their most loyal customer (Joris) quite disgruntled.